1.1 Compare and contrast various types of security controls

Domain 1: General Security Concepts

This objective tests whether you can classify security controls two ways at once: by category (technical, managerial, operational, physical) and by type (preventive, deterrent, detective, corrective, compensating, directive). The exam rarely asks for definitions in isolation. Instead, it gives you a concrete example — a bollard, an acceptable use policy, a SIEM alert, a guard checking badges — and asks you to place it on both axes. Practice by taking everyday controls and labeling them: a firewall is technical and preventive; log review is operational and detective; a warning sign is physical and deterrent. Pay special attention to compensating controls, which stand in when the primary control is not feasible, and directive controls, which tell people what to do rather than enforcing it. Candidates lose points when they assume a control has exactly one classification; many controls shift type depending on how the scenario says they are used.

common pitfall · Candidates confuse deterrent controls with preventive ones — a deterrent discourages an attacker who could still proceed, while a preventive control actually blocks the action.